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Connecticut school shooting: 27 dead in school shooting

It wasn't clear how many people were injured at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. | AP Photo

"There's no words," Wilford said. "It's sheer terror, a sense of imminent danger, to get to your child and be there to protect him."

On Friday afternoon, family members were led away from a firehouse that was being used as a staging area, some of them weeping. One man, wearing only a T-shirt without a jacket, put his arms around a woman as they walked down the middle of the street, oblivious to everything around them.

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Another woman with tears rolling down her face walked by carrying a car seat with a young infant inside and a bag that appeared to have toys and stuffed animals.

"Evil visited this community today and it's too early to speak of recovery, but each parent, each sibling, each member of the family has to understand that Connecticut — we're all in this together. We'll do whatever we can to overcome this event," Gov. Dannel Malloy said.

Adam Lanza and his mother lived in a well-to-do part of Newtown where neighbors are doctors or hold white-collar positions at companies such as General Electric, Pepsi and IBM.

Three guns were found — a Glock and a Sig Sauer, both pistols, inside the school, and a .223-caliber rifle in the back of a car.

The shootings instantly brought to mind episodes such as the Columbine High School massacre that killed 15 in 1999 and the July shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead.

"You go to a movie theater in Aurora and all of a sudden your life is taken," Columbine principal Frank DeAngelis said. "You're at a shopping mall in Portland, Ore., and your life is taken. This morning, when parents kissed their kids goodbye knowing that they are going to be home to celebrate the holiday season coming up, you don't expect this to happen. I think as a society, we need to come together. It has to stop, these senseless deaths."

Obama's comments on the tragedy amounted to one of the most outwardly emotional moments of his presidency.

"The majority of those who died were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," Obama said.

He paused for several seconds to keep his composure as he teared up and wiped an eye. Nearby, two aides cried and held hands as they listened to Obama.

"They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, wedding, kids of their own," Obama continued about the victims. "Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children."

The Newtown school shooting brings to mind Beslan & the new type of violent actors who either wish to "martyr" themselves while taking hostages or wish to suicide while killing others. When I interviewed a Beslan father who escaped out of a window, he reflected on the right response. "Attack them immediately..we lost 250 people waiting 3 days..we could have fought alongside the rescuers, instead of sitting and waiting for our deaths..." page 557 Talking to Terrorists. The cordon off & control strategies with active shooters and "martyr" mass hostage takers are no longer viable. The well trained Newton police acted swiftly reducing the loss of life in this tragic incident. Now the faculty, children and families are going to need good triage and long term follow up psychological care. School - as in the Beslan tragedy - is no longer a "safe" place.

At the rate of high-profile mass shootings and attempted shootings, gun-rights proponents will not have anything to fear from the Left...gun owners seem to be their own worst enemies...and the best advertisement against allowing any "qualified" person to own a gun legally!

It WAS time to talk about 'gun control' in this country long, long ago, but the white rabbits dove for their holes just ahead of the NRAbid dogs, NOW it's time to DO something about GUN violence against innocents (and innocence) -- PASS legislation (damn the NRApedoes) state and federal, to CONTROL violence by registering ALL guns and re-BAN the asssult (semi-automatic) rifles and all gun magazines 'too large to believe its legal'. Get this done, for crying out loud, so parents and loved ones don't have to anymore. Yes, I know ye gunnuts, this shooter didn't use an AR--but he COULD have if he wanted to, so we have you to thank he didn't want to??? GUNS kill you idiots, people just pull the trigger. Grow up and collect something else to compensate.